Thiruvananthapuram: In spite of multiple appeals to the Central government and a proposal from a parliamentary standing committee supporting the idea, the Kerala government stated on Friday that Kannur airport has not yet been granted "point of call" status, which would allow foreign airlines to conduct operations from there.
State Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh made this submission in the Assembly on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in response to UDF MLA Sajeev Joseph calling the CM's attention to the necessity of increasing the number of flight services from Kannur airport and to develop it into international standards.
Rajesh said the issue of granting 'point of call' status to the airport was raised before the Centre several times. The CM himself met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu over this matter, he added.
“The CM has submitted a memorandum to the Civil Aviation Minister on September 28,” he said.
A parliamentary standing committee has also recommended granting ‘point of call’ status to the airport. However, to date, the ‘point of call’ status has not been granted, Rajesh said, adding that the state has also sought that the airport be included in the UDAN scheme of the government.
The UDAN scheme, also known as ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik’, is a regional airport development programme of the union government.
Rajesh said the state government will continue to press for the grant of ‘point of call’ status to Kannur airport and called upon the UDF MLAs to join the efforts by exerting pressure on the Centre in Parliament.
Joseph, calling attention to the plight of the Kannur airport, said that despite having all the facilities and infrastructure, only two airlines are operating services from there, which was not beneficial for the people of northern Kerala.
The MLA alleged that the Centre was showing “extreme neglect” towards the airport.
He claimed that initially four airlines operated from there, but now only Air India and Indigo were providing flight services.
He said that the Centre needs to be informed about the necessity to increase the number of flight services from Kannur airport.
With PTI inputs